


Two Heroes

by Anichibi



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Comfort, Forehead Kisses, Human Experimentation, M/M, My Hero Academia AU, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, X does have a real name, because, everyone's really ooc but as the story goes on they'll be more like their original selves, gay awakening™, it's a musical themed one, light torture I guess??, mainly because i couldn't think of anything, zero doesn't though, zero lives a really shitty life but only in the first two chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-07-02 20:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15803598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anichibi/pseuds/Anichibi
Summary: When Zero is saved by X, a pro hero in training, he decides to become a hero too to do what X had done for him.and maybe hit on him a bit while he's at it.maybe.aka the my hero academia au nobody asked for





	1. Zero

I grunted as I was thrown back into my room, which felt so much more like a prison cell than an actual room. I've been in this god forsaken laboratory for as long as my mind cares to remember. I don't remember anything from before when I was six, when this... _disgusting_ man came and took me from my home. I couldn't even remember my own name.

"Subject Zero. We'll run some more experiments tomorrow. Thanks to your amazing quirk, we have run some fantastic tests normally impossible due to the risks that come with tests like these. Make sure you're well rested for tomorrow." The door slammed closed and the audible sound of a lock clicking into place reminded me once again for what must be the millionth time that I had no escape. There were no windows and the vents were far too small for me to fit through.

My quirk is called Quick Recovery. I can heal pretty much any injury in a manner of days as compared to a normal human. Again, I can't remember my name. Wily, that damnable scientist that took me years ago, calls me Subject Zero. Now that I think about it, all the details of my life are a mystery, from my birthday to my age. All I knew was that, day in and day out, I was nothing more than a test subject for a mad scientist. I knew a lot about the world I was locked away from, thanks to a worker at the laboratory, but that's a story for another day.

My cell, at least, that's what I call it, consisted of a decently sized bed and... nothing. I had the bare minimum of what could be considered a bedroom. There was a set of bars off to the side, but I never had the chance to look outside. The doctor drags me in for what may as well be considered torture just as the sun shines it's rays on the world, and by the time he's done, the sun's down completely and my body aches too much to move.

Today wasn't one of those days, it seemed. I limped to the bars, my only view of the outside world. My vision was covered in city lights and the stars in the sky. I couldn't describe it any other way besides beautiful. Certainly loads better than the gray stone walls and blinding overhead lights of this dreary place. I heard a loud boom, just slightly off to the left of the street that lay in the center of my view. A large creature running off woth a bag of equal size. People in strange outfits, heroes if I recall correctly, chased after it. My eyes locked on a man in blue armor, one of the people chasing after that creature. The only other people I've seen are the scientists and the poor unfortunate souls that got stuck in this hell hole with me. I was too tired to be surprised when the blue-clad man's arm changed into what I can only call a gun. It shot yellow energy rounds, and that was more or less the only clue I got about what it was.

I watched him and the other person fight that creature, taking it down as people in black and blue uniforms came into view in black and white cars with lights on top that flashed red and blue. They had writing on them, but they stopped at an angle where it was impossible to read them. The man in blue waved to the other people as he walked away from the scene, probably heading home.

I stood in front of those bars long after the squabble was over. I watched as lights in the city began turning off one by one. However, I saw a light turn on in the corner of my eye, seeing a building nearby made of brick with windows all over the walls. One window opened, and a man with brown hair and a light blue shirt rested his arms against the windowsill. I, having nothing else of interest to watch, kept my eyes fixed on him. A few seconds later and he started singing. It felt like all the aching in my body just suddenly disappeared. It was a calming sound, the lyrics filling the air. I didn't realize I was starting to fall asleep until I started falling backwards. I quickly caught myself and sighed. I've got another day of hell ahead of me. Might as well rest.

That man kept singing, and I found myself falling asleep faster than ever before.


	2. X

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update 09/07/18: minor dialogue change because said dialogue kinda conflicted with a kinda important fact in the upcoming chapter and I figured "fix it now before people call you out on it"

It was a few weeks since I first saw that man and heard that singing. It's been the only thing that's helped me get through the experiments that have been getting progressively worse and worse. The last one left me almost blind and all experiments on me ended for the day as the medical division insisted I be given time to let my quirk heal my eyes.

Speaking of the medical division, those people are probably the nicest people out of everyone in this lab. They actually _do_ care about the test subjects and treat us like actual people. One girl from the medical team named Iris visited me all the time when I first came here. She was incredibly kind and smart for her age (she was the same age as me and she knew so much about medicine and science) and she was always willing to help ease the pain from the experiments. A few days ago, she just left the laboratory, and I was told it was because she was sick of watching people like me suffer every day at the hands of a madman like Wily.

Anyways, back to the present. I was being brought in for another experiment. I was outfited with a pair of soundproof headphones with metal clasps to keep them on my head. The scientists made sure they wouldn't come off (a bit of a painful experience as the tugged on it a bit, but nothing I wasn't used to) before sending me in. I was sure what to expect until suddenly a loud buzzing played from the headphones. I could barely think clearly. It was _loud_. It felt like two huge speakers were pressed against my head blasting at full volume. I don't remember if I screamed. I tried desperately to claw the damn things off. I slammed against the wall in my struggle. They were strapped on tight. I couldn't undo the clasps. Hot tears streamed down my face. I didn't know what was happening around me. I fell on the ground, laying on my back and trying so hard to get those damn things off. I felt hands hold me up and undo the clasps on the headset. Once they were off, I couldn't hear a thing. The scientists rushed me back to my room. I was left there for the rest of the day.

Pain was prevalent in my ears. It was so indescribably painful that I could barely think straight. I lay in my bed and just cried. I could've been crying loudly or quietly. I wouldn't have a clue. My hearing slowly came back as the day went. It was hard to pick out specific sounds but I could hear. Soon, I could hear my sobs as I lay there. All other noises were muffled and distant.

After about another hour or so, a loud noise echoed through the room, followed by fainter sounds. Something touched my shoulder, and I turned my head sharply to look behind me. Standing right there at my bedside was the man I saw a few days ago, in his blue armor. His face held a gentle, caring smile. My sobs stopped, reduced to shaky breaths. He spoke, his voice just slightly muffled. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. I didn't want to speak. My voice probably sounded horse and mangled. "Okay, good. My name is X. I'm a hero in training. The agency I intern at was recently informed of a facility that preformed inhumane experiments on people run by a man responsible for several kidnappings." He said. He sounded like he rehearsed that over and over before coming here. "Can you tell me your name?"

My name. How can I tell him my name if I myself don't know it? I cleared my throat before I spoke. "I don't know my name. The scientists called me Subject Zero." I answered. The man-no-X bit his lip. "How about I just call you Zero?" He asked.

I debated it for a second. I really couldn't think of anything else he could call me, nor anything I wanted to be called, so it was really the only option. "Fine by me."

"Good. Now, come on. We're bringing you to a hospital for treatment." I put my hand up. "Don't bother. My quirk's been treating me for years." X looked taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Quick Recovery. I heal faster than other people. Both a blessing and a curse, really." I answered, standing up. My head was spinning as the damage done earlier was still healing. I stumbled and almost fell before X caught me, helping me stand up. "You're not done healing yet, are you?" He asked. "Apparently, no." I muttered. X lifted my arm over his head, resting it on his shoulder and holding onto my wrist. "I've got you, don't worry." He said as his other arm went behind my back to support me. I looked over at his face. A pair of green eyes scanning over my body, faint freckles dotting his face, strands of brown hair peeking out from under his helmet. Dare I say he's kinda cute?

I kept my thoughts to myself. "Are you sure you're okay? Does anything else hurt?" I held back the urge to roll my eyes as I replied. "Healing quirk." X looked down, looking a bit embarrassed. "Right. Let's go."

I let him support me as we walked through the building to the outside, even though I felt completely fine halfway there. I saw several big white cars with red strips and crosses on them. "Hey, uh, X? What are those cars?" He looked over to where I was pointing and nodded silently. "Those are ambulances. They're used by hospitals to safely transport the injured to them to be treated."

"Have you ever been in one?" I asked. There was a brief pause before X answered. "Just once. Back when I was new to the whole hero thing. It's a long story." I nodded. Then another question came to me. "Where am I gonna stay?" I asked, mostly to myself. Well, you'll be in police custody for a day or two, but after that, I'm not sure." X looked like he was thinking about something for a moment. "You could live with me and my family, if you want to." He seemed to hesitate as he finished his sentence. "Well, I don't have anywhere else to go, and you're really to only person that I know, so I don't really have any other options, do I?"

"Doesn't seem like it. Just... I won't be there all the time since I have to go to school, so I hope you don't mind."

"Can't I go with you?" Another pause. "My school is for people training to become heroes. Since you don't want to be a hero, you can't really go, or at least be in the same classes as me."

"I never said I didn't wanna be a hero." X almost tripped over his own feet as his eyes went wide. "Huh?!" His head spun around to face me. "You heard me."

"But, why?!" I contemplated my answer quickly before I spoke. "Because I wanna do what you did for me." X raised an eyebrow. "Which is..?"

"Help people like me who are in a situation where they can't help themselves, where they've just surrendered any and all control to their captors." A smile grew on X's face. "Funny. I also want to help people just like you. Well, actually, I just want to help people in general, really." I nodded. "I see. Well, how about we me into that school of yours, huh?"

"Whatever you want, Zero."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, just want to announce that there's an XZero discord server now, run by yours truly! Please do join if you're interested! The link is right here! https://discord.gg/JcMyXH2


	3. Alto

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [X's POV]

Zero was taken into police custody for a day for questioning, most likely to make sure he wasn't a threat to society. It was there that I found out just how long he'd been locked away from the world.

Nine years. Nine whole years. Nine years ago, a woman filed a missing persons report for a child. The report was damaged in a fire caused by a villain, and most of the details, including names and addresses, were burnt off. The only one who could figure out at least who the report was for was was Zero himself, who recognized the woman in the photo attached as the woman he saw when he was taken away. The police were never able to find him, so the case was deemed impossible to solve at that point and had been closed for years.

"So, if Zero was six when he was taken away, and assuming that report was filed immediately after, then he would be... fifteen." I spoke as I did the math in my head. It all added up. That would mean he was the same age as me. Zero didn't seem too surprised by the revelation. "Well, that's one of my many life mysteries solved. Can I leave now?" Zero whined. "Well..." one of the the officers in the room started "you've been ruled out as a threat to society, and you answered all our questions honestly. I suppose we can let you go." Zero pumped his fist into the air. I could tell he didn't want to stay here any longer than he had to.

The moment the police gave him the okay, Zero bolted out the door, bumping into several people. I apologized for him as I chased after him and was relieved to see he stopped just outside the building. I caught up to him, a bit breathless. "You're so excitable, aren't you? I almost lost you for a second." I said as I walked to his side. His blue eyes were full of amazement and joy. It was a bit surprising after I saw nothing but a bored and annoyed expression for a few hours. He looked around the city, taking in his surroundings before looking back to me. "Um, so, where do we go first?" He asked, looking at me a bit sheepishly. His messy clothes and disheveled hair were drawing a few eyes, so I deemed it priority number one. "First things first, I think it would be best to clean you up and look less like... erm..." I didn't know how to describe his appearance without sounding rude about it. "Less like a homeless loser who's been living off garbage for his whole life?" He asked with a chuckle. "I wouldn't have put it so bluntly but, yeah."

"Well, lead the way, X."

"Ah, um, X is my hero name. I'm not on duty right now, so..."

"Well, what do I call you then?" Zero looked confused. "I'm not saying you can't call me by my hero name, but... um..." I wasn't used to situations like this. "Anyway, um, my real name is Alto, if you want to call me that." Zero nodded. "Well, I think X sounds cooler, so I'm just gonna call you X. Is that fine by you?"

"Of course. Now, follow me. We're heading to my house. I should have clothes that'll fit you. Plus showering probably wouldn't be a bad idea." I lead Zero by the hand to my apartment building. He kept looking around as we walked, asking me what some words on the signs we passed meant and such. Honestly, I was amazed he could read at all. You'd think scientists experimenting on people wouldn't actually talk to them, let alone teach them to read.

I lead him up the stairs to my family's third floor apartment, sparing a quick glance at him before opening the door. Immediately upon opening the door, our dog, Rush, jumped up on me and knocked me over. Zero had backed up, looking more than a little scared. I laughed as Rush nuzzled against my face as I tried getting him off. "Rush, I told you not to pounce on Alto when he opens the door!" I managed to look over Rush to see my little sister, Roll, running over to us. She hoaxed Rush off of me and I stood back up and turned to Zero, who still looked pretty freaked out. He hid behind me a bit, staring at Rush like he was gonna jump up again. "What is that." He asked coldly. "Zero, this is our dog, Rush."

"It's not gonna jump up again, is it?" He asked. "He only does that to me since I'm away all the time. Don't worry about it. Now, come inside." I walked into the apartment, Zero following me closely. He kept his eyes fixed on Rush the whole time.

Roll tugged at his hair a bit. "Sir, your hair's all tangled and uneven." She stated, looking up at Zero. "Um... yeah? So?" Zero looked confused. "So let me help you get it all nice and even! Can I?" She looked up at him with these big eyes that just begged him to say yes. He nervously looked to me as if wanting me to answer for him. "Roll, I think Zero would be more comfortable with me doing it." I said, crouching down to her level. I quickly looked up at Zero. "Right, Zero?" He hesitated for a second before nodding quickly. "Y-Yeah."

"Well, I just thought I'd ask." Roll then walked to the living room area, sitting on the couch and picking up the book on the table to read.

I lead Zero to my room first, him sitting on the bed while I looked for something for him to wear. "Do you care if it's a little baggy? We haven't done laundry yet, so all I have are loose shirts and sweatpants, apparently." I asked, turning away from my drawers to Zero. He shook his head in response, so I pulled out a grey shirt and some dark blue sweatpants and handed them to him. "When you're done in the shower, you can put those on. Make sure you dry your hair good. I'll help with that if you need me to. Okay?" Zero nodded as I spoke. I lead him to the bathroom before I walked into the kitchen. My older brother, Blues, was sitting at the table. I filled a cup with water from the water pitcher in the refrigerator before sitting down with him.

"So, was that guy your boyfriend or something?" He asked bluntly as I took a sip of my water. I spit out the water I originally intended to drink, hastily getting up and grabbing a dish towel to clean up the mess. "Did you have to be so blunt about?!" I asked, albeit louder than I intended. "It was a simple question. No need to work yourself up over it." He replied, equally as blunt as the question he had asked earlier. "I barely even know him, anyways!"

"Hey, it could've been one of those 'love at first sight' kind of things. I'm not judging." I could already feel my face burning up. It was then that my little brother, Rock, ran down the hall. "I heard yelling! What happened?!" He asked. "Nothing, Rock."

"Alto has a boyfriend now." Blues stated before taking a sip of the water I got for myself. Rock gasped in obvious excitement and I felt like Blues was doing this intentionally to rile me up. "I just met him yesterday. We barely know each other." I clarified indigantly. "It was love at first sight." Blues added, taking another sip of my water. " _Blues!_ "

I got up to put the towel back, but apparently _someone_ thought it would be hilarious to put the water pitcher on the floor in the perfect place for me to trip over it and knock it over. "Alto, the water pitcher's on the floor." Blues stated. "Gee, I wonder why!" I yelled in response, frustrated. I picked up the now empty pitcher and set it on the counter, quickly retrieving a bigger towel from the closet in the hallway to clean up the bigger mess. I threw it on the floor and took a moment to sigh before getting down and scrubbing the floor.

"X, I need help. I, uh, can't get my hair dry." Zero yelled from the bathroom. "Go help your boyfriend, Alto." Blues said as I got up and walked down the hall. I cast a quick glare at him before heading to the bathroom. I peaked in before entering to see that Zero had already put on the clothes I handed him. "I, uh, don't know what I'm doing." He laughed nervously, looking down at the growing puddle on the floor from his dripping hair. "I'd love to help you, but I'm in the middle of something right now. I'll get Roll, she can use the hairdryer." I went back to the kitchen, peaking into the living room to see Roll still on the couch reading her book. "Roll, can you help Zero dry his hair?" She nodded, bookmarking her page before jumping off the couch and quickly walking to the bathroom.

"You're not gonna help your boyfriend?" Blues asked. "Can you stop calling him that?! His name is Zero." I resumed cleaning up the spilt water. "You can't deny he's your type, buddy." He replied. "You don't even know what my type _is_." I scoffed. All conversation ended there, and I was eternally grateful for it.

Zero came out of the bathroom with Roll a little while later. He glanced from me on the floor furiously cleaning up my mess to Blues who was most definitely taking a long satisfactory sip from the water I made a mess with earlier. "Are we gonna do my hair now, or..?" He asked. "Give me a bit. I'll help you in a second." I replied, cleaning up the last of the water. And Blues chose that moment to speak. "Hey, you dating Alto?" He asked. I looked up and briefly saw Zero's face turn a dark shade of red before he quickly turned and retreated to my room.

"He didn't say no." He stated casually as I stood up to put the towel in the hamper, and I could see the beginnings of a smug grin on his face. "He didn't say yes, either!" I yelled in response. I quickly ran down the hall, stopping by the bathroom to get a brush and a hair elastic. I went back into my room to see Zero laying face down in my bed, hair sprawled out on top of him. He looked up at me as I closed the door behind me. I held up the brush and the elastic I grabbed and he sat up, his knees pulled to his chest. "Did you want to keep it long? I can get some scissors if you don't." I asked before sitting down behind him. "I'm fine with it like this." Zero answered. I hummed in response before I began brushing all the knots out. Stiff silence filled the room, and I decided to strike up some conversation. "So, how come you know how to read?" I asked. The question had been burning in my mind for a few hours now. "Huh? Oh, there was a girl from the medical division that came in to check on me every so often. She was really nice, and she taught me a lot of things. She started teaching me how to read before she quit."

"Why'd she quit? Actually, um, I think I can figure out the answer myself."

"It was a few days before you came and saved me. She usually came by once or twice a week, but suddenly she just stopped showing up." Zero sounded a bit upset. "Just out of curiosity, what was her name?" I asked.

"Iris." I stopped for a second, and a small idea came to my head. "You know, that report we got on the lab you were in was filed by an ex-employee who's name just so happened to be Iris. I hear she works at the same agency I'm interning at."

"Really?!" Zero's head spun to face me, the brush in my hand getting yanked away as it had caught on a nasty knot and as such travelled with the rest of his hair and smacked him in the arm. He rubbed his arm where the brush hit him before turning back around, visibly embarrassed. "That's... nice." He finished, his voice a bit softer than it was before.

I couldn't think of anything else to add, so I decided to change the topic. "So, how does your quirk work exactly? Does it just heal you fast or can you like, I don't know, breathe under water or something?"

"I can't breathe under water, the scientists tried that. I can, however, regrow my limbs. According to Iris, it's a very disturbing process, but it's possible." Zero replied. "I see... anything else?"

"Not really. It's a pretty basic quirk. Not really much you can do with it besides recover from a beating quickly." Silence took over the room again. I finished brushing his hair and pulled it all up to put it in a ponytail. It took a bit to loop all of his hair through the elastic twice, but I managed to get it done. "There we go. That'll keep it out of the way." I said, mostly to myself.

"Are you done now?" Zero asked. Unlike earlier when he asked thr police every half hour if he could leave, there wasn't a hint of annoyance or impatience. "Yeah. You're good to go." I pat him on the shoulder and stood up. Zero stood up after me. He brushed his bangs out of his face, but they fell back soon after he let go. "Do you want me to trim your bangs? It looks like they're bothering you."

"That would be nice. I have a feeling this would get annoying real fast otherwise." He replied, moving his bangs from his face again. They fell back in front of his face after he let go, eliciting a groan from him. I quickly grabbed a pair of scissors from my desk next to the window and trimmed his bangs enough so they wouldn't fall in his face and bother him. It was a quick cut, and was thus pretty uneven. It looked fine, though, so I guess it didn't matter.

"What should we do now?" Zero asked. "I... didn't think that far ahead." I glanced at the clock on the wall. It read 4 PM. "I'm not sure there's much for us to do at four o'clock." I thought for a while, but nothing really came to me. "We could just, uh, walk around town?" Zero shrugged. "That's actually not a bad idea. I'll grab some shoes for you. You can't exactly walk around barefoot."

"Can't we just buy me my own stuff?" He asked. "Sure, if you wanna spend the next three hours clothes shopping. That's not exactly how I'd like to spend my evening. Especially since that internship doesn't get me a lot of money. Going on a spending spree with me would set me back months." Zero nodded, though his face told me he didn't have a clue what I meant. "You're just nodding to be nice, are you?"

"...Was that the impression I was giving off?" He asked, voice full of most definitely genuine confusion. "Sure was. I'm not gonna have to teach you how money works, right?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. Iris taught me basic stuff about the world so I was less likely to die if I ever got out. Speaking of, I never thanked you properly for that, did I?" Zero's face lit up with the realization. "There's no need for that. Honestly, I was just doing my job."

" _And_ you practically changed my entire life in the process. I feel like there are millions of ways I could return to favor or show my appreciation, but at the moment, this'll have to do." Without another word, Zero pulled me into a hug, head resting on my shoulder. "Thank you. For everything."

"I..." _I didn't do enough to deserve this_. My words caught in my throat. I hesitated for a second before returning the embrace. "You're welcome."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bonus:
> 
> Blues: if those two don't get together before i move out i'm tormenting them both for the rest of their lives.
> 
> blues is an advocate for xzero you heard it here folks.


	4. UA

The first few days after Zero came into our lives were spent teaching him the things he didn't know, which, surprisingly, wasn't much.

The third day after he came, I found out he'd been literally living only on bread and water his whole life, and as such looked skinny and frail. That day was spent wandering around the city and stopping by nearly every restaurant and spending a good chunk of my savings.

On the fourth day, Zero met my dad, and unsurprisingly, he was fine with Zero living with us. And, due to his influence as a leading inventer of support items used by heroes around the world, managed to get him into UA, and in the same class as me no less.

And today was when Zero started school.

"How the hell do you tie this?" He grumbled, practically fighting with the uniform's tie. "You've got me there. Usually, Dad helps me with it." I replied, and when I looked back from the bag I was packing with supplies, Zero was already out the door. "Mr. Light, can you help me with this stupid tie?"

I chuckled softly as I returned to filling the bag. Zero returned a few seconds later, the tie he had been struggling with now done neatly and properly. "Why am I not surprised?" I asked to myself. "Are you done with that yet? I'd like to see what this place is like sometime today." Zero asked, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor. "Relax, I'm just about done." I put one more thing in the bag before zipping it up and handing it to Zero. "Finally. Let's go!" He grabbed the bag and quickly put it on before running down the hall. When I looked out, he just barely stopped himself from crashing into the door. "Zero, relax! We still have fourty five minutes!" I yelled after him, grabbing my bag and running to catch up to him. He had already yanked the door open and rushed out. I ran through the door, closing it behind me. I quickly and expertly descended the stairs and finally caught up to Zero outside. "Are you done running now?"

"I don't know where we're going." He said. "Follow me. It's not too far from here."

We walked to the school in silence. It only broke when we reached the gates. Zero looked up at the building as we walked through the gates in awe. "How big is this place?!" He asked, still staring up at the building. "Very. Trust me. I got lost a few times on my first day. Unless you want to do the same, you better stick to me like glue. Dad managed to get you in the same classes as me, so don't worry too much."

"Alright then."

The walk to homeroom went by fast. Zero wanted to get out of the crowded halls and into a classroom as soon as possible, and I honestly couldn't blame him. People would stare at him as he rushed by next to me.

We got to the classroom in a manner of minutes. My - _our_ \- classmates stared at Zero as we walked in. His eyes darted around the room at the people staring at him. He looked at me, and I could tell he was silently pleading for me to break the tense silence in the room. I took a quick glance around the room. If I even opened my mouth to speak, everyone would crowd around Zero in a heartbeat. I decided to take the chance, preemptively putting myself between the other students and Zero. "Good morning, everyone! I'm guessing you guys saw the news the other day?" I tried to direct the conversation away from Zero for the most part, and it seemed to work. Most of our classmates nodded or voiced their answers. "Well, then you probably know that I was part of the team that went in, right?" I almost fell back as several people crowded around me, asking me questions about what it was like and how many people I saved. I could barely get a word in.

"Guys, give him some space. He can't exactly answer your questions if you ask them faster than he can speak." Zero managed to speak over the practically yelling crowd. Everyone looked up at him, and I expected him to get the same treatment, but instead everyone backed up, some even returning to their seats. "How'd you do that?" I whispered to him. He simply shrugged. "Well, anyway! This is Zero, he was one of the people that was saved from the laboratory. He's been living with me for the past few days. I think he'd appreciate it if you didn't ask him any questions about the lab."

"I'd rather not have to relive the hell I had to go through in that god forsaken hell hole." Zero growled. I went silent for a few seconds. "Okay, well, uh, that's just about everything. Anyone have anything to add?" A girl, Shugā, raised her hand. "Yes?"

"Zero's pretty." Several of our classmates nodded in agreement. I looked to Zero to see his face slowly turning red. He slowly hid behind me, his face buried in my back. I laughed softly. I wasn't going to say it out loud, for fear of making Zero more uncomfortable than he was already, but he _was_ very pretty. You'd have to be blind to deny it.

Zero gently tugged on my shirt. "What is it?" I whispered, turning to him. "Just... show me to my seat. I don't wanna be up here now." He mumbled. I nodded, leading him to my seat in the back. There was an open seat next to mine after one of my classmates transferred to a different school. "This seat here is really the only one that's open." I gestured to the open seat next to the window. It was all the way in the back, and I had a feeling Zero would like being out of everyone's view. He nodded before sitting down, looking around the room at everyone still staring at him. With a groan, he buried his face in his arms on the desk. "I hate this..." I sighed. Everyone else returned to whatever they had been doing earlier, and I took my seat next to Zero. "I'm sorry, they're all pretty blunt. They were probably just trying to help you feel welcome. That, and you looked pretty tense." I rubbed his back. He lifted his head up to look at me. "Did I really look that tense?" He asked with a soft smile. "Yeah, you did."

Zero laughed after a few seconds, and I joined him. If I'm honest, his laugh was the nicest sound I'd ever heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably not gonna have many chapters take place at UA, or at least chapters that don't involve training and the sports festival (yes I may cover that and oh boy it's gonna be a wild ride if I do). Next chapter's gonna be longer probably and feature more quality bonding and probably have some good sibling bonding with X and Rock. No holiday chapters tho. Last time I wrote a holiday chapter for an au fic I just never touched it again.


	5. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One year time skip! Why? Because  
> A. I'm lazy  
> B. I'm tired  
> C. I'm running out of ideas  
> D. All of the above  
> you decide for yourself which one it is  
> btw this is pretty short so sorry about that.  
> nothing cute or silly or cool or just in general plot essentially or interesting happens the first year after zero joins the light fam anyway
> 
> [Zero's POV]

"This next test will involve water. Are you up for that?" The scientist asked me as we walked to the testing center. "Water? Um, you mean, like, swimming and stuff? Yeah, I can handle that. I'm a pretty good swimmer." The scientist simply gave me a blank stare before shoving me into the large glass tube full of water below. I didn't understand what was happening, but I was terrified. Instantly I was holding my breath, even as my body splashed into the water. I looked up and watched with horror as the tube was being covered, slowly trapping me in here to drown. _"Nonononono please! Please, I don't know what I did, but I won't do it again!"_ Frantically, I swam up, hoping against hope that I'd make it out. The water wasn't high enough. I couldn't make it out. The cover shut the tube.

A hole opened in the metal cover and water started rushing in, landing right on top of me with great force. I was pushed down into the water, leaving me to flail uselessly for a few seconds before I got my bearings and beginning to swim upwards again. The water pouring in kept pushing me down, but I was too stubborn to give up. Finally, the water stopped pushing me down and I swam as fast as I could. Just as I saw light, the hole in the metal cover slammed shut, taking the last bit of hope I had.

The tube was now filled to the brim. There was no air. I didn't know how long I could keep holding my breath. I was already starting to grow light-headed and dizzy. Slowly, my vision grew darker and the last thing I saw before I passed out was the air escaping my lungs in the form of bubbles as I sank to the bottom.

I shot up in bed, my eyes darting around a dark room. _"Where am I?! Where..?!"_ My eyes landed on a window, different in design yet similar in purpose to the barred up opening in the wall of my old cell. I felt my tense and sweaty body relax as reality replaced the memories of the past. My breathing became steady. Everything was alright. Everything was as it should be. As it had been for over a year now. Except, a faint sound drifted into my ear. A sob, a choked sound, a pained one. I knew better than anyone else what such a sound was like.

I glanced down at the floor. X was sleeping there, and he seemed to be the source of those sounds. I carefully slid off the bed and got down next to X's makeshift one. He was clutching the blanket under him, tears staining the pillow under his head. He was mumbling something, but I couldn't pick out any words. I shook him a bit, and he stirred easily. Though, when he woke up, he just lied there for a second before shooting up in a panic. I was looking over him, and he slammed his head against mine. I reeled back, rubbing my forehead. That seemed to wake him up more. "Z... Zero? Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" I put my hand up and X went silent. "I'm fine, no need to apologise. I was just checking on you."

"Checking on me? Why?" X seemed oblivious to the tears still slowly running down his cheeks, or was pretending they weren't there. "X, you were crying when I woke up. I wanted to make sure everything was okay." I hesitated in resting a hand on his, part of me feeling like I was overstepping my boundaries. "I... I was?"

"You still are, actually." He gingerly touched his cheek, a tear sliding down his index finger. "O-Oh... I am, aren't I?" He looked shaken up, probably remembering whatever dream he had. He bit his lip. "If, um... if you wanna talk about it or something, then..." His face was scrunched up, like he was trying to hold back tears and sobs. A sob ripped at his throat and the slowly drying trails of tears were soaked again as large streams poured out. Iput my arms around him in an instant. He reached up to his face and wiped his tears with the palm of his hand.

"I'm so sorry I woke you up with this, Zero..." X choked out. "You shouldn't be apologizing. Besides, I was up anyway. Some bad memories came back to haunt me in my sleep." I replied. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine now." I quickly added. X nodded slightly in understanding. "I... I dreamt about a bad memory, too. I'd rather not talk about it..." X stated, leaning into me a bit. "I understand. You don't have to tell me anything." I replied. X leaned more into me and cried just a bit harder. "I'm bringing you into the bed with me. Is that okay?" X nodded stiffly. I lifted him up and laid him down in the bed before getting in the bed myself. I pulled the covers over us and then pulled X close to me, rubbing circles on his back as he cried.

About a half hour passed before X stopped crying and fell asleep. I still held him closely. Part of me wanted to stay there forever. I hesitantly brushed his bangs aside and kissed his forehead. He smiled in his sleep, moving just the slightest bit closer to me. I smiled as I fell asleep, our limbs intertwined with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter eight will another, shorter time skip of about 2-3 weeks, give or take, and will feature zero's many attempts to ask x out and many situations where he backs out last second. because that's me right now and the only way i'll be able to coup is via self projection.


	6. Scars

"Hey, X," I started, staring at X's back as he changed. It was covered in scars, as were his arms. X turned to me and I was able to see more of his scars. How I never noticed them until now, I'll never know. "how did you get all those scars?" I asked. X looked down at himself. "They're all from villain attacks, though some of them are also from training." He answered plainly. I was silent, lost in thought. I looked down at my own half exposed body. I didn't have a single scar. I looked from me to X. This wasn't right. X hasn't been tortured most of his life like I have. How come he has more scars than I do? "Is something wrong, Zero?" X asked when he noticed my staring. He put on a shirt, hiding most of his scars from my view. "That's not right." X looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"You have more scars than I do." X's eyes widened. He looked me over as his mouth voicelessly formed random words, trying to think of a response. "I... um..." He didn't have a clue what to say. "It's not right that someone like you would be covered in scars." I looked down at the floor. "Zero, it makes sense that I'd have more scars than you do. You have a healing quirk, after all." He finally found his words, staring me right in the eyes. "I know that, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have scars." I replied. I was right. I'd seen people walk out of Recovery Girl's office with scars. Her quirk functions similar to mine, just faster and on other people.

X took my hand and looked me in the eyes for a few seconds before he spoke again. "Zero, being a hero means I could get hurt, so of course I'll have scars. I just think they're a sign I'm doing a good job. After all, the people I was protecting never got hurt." He looked down, rubbing the back of my hand. I stared silently. "Besides," he continued "not all scars are physical ones, Zero. All those years you spent being tortured... it'd be strange if they _didn't_ leave some mental scaring." He looked down sadly. "I... guess you're right..."

I stood there awkwardly for a few more seconds until X's eyes widened and he quickly released my hand. "I'm sorry, I forgot you were still getting dressed!" He blurted out, his face red. I laughed slightly at his behavior. "It's fine, X. Don't worry about it." I replied, slipping on the shirt that was still laying on the bed. "I know, b-but-!" I put a hand on his shoulder. "I said it's fine, X. Relax."

"I know, but it's just that..." X looked down, biting his lip. "I... no, nevermind." He turned away, muttering "what was I thinking?" under his breath. I quickly grabbed his wrist as he went to leave. "Hey, you can tell me what you want to say." He pulled his wrist out of my grip. "It's not important. Please, don't worry about it." I grabbed his shoulder this time. "X, you can tell me anything. You know that, right?"

"I can't tell you this!" He snapped. "Why not!?" I yelled. "Because! Because I... I'm..." Quickly, he ran, throwing open the door and slamming it shut on his way out. I just stood there in a daze. I heard another door open and close a little ways down the hall. Off to the right. Blues' room. I sighed, letting my hand fall to my side. He only went in there when he wanted me to leave him alone. It wasn't often, but I knew that was the reason. "X..." Sighing again, I turned and flopped onto my bed, simply letting sleep take me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really short chapter. This'll be continued in the next chapter from X's perspective, which is why I ended this one so soon.


End file.
